


Poison

by vogue91



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animal Instincts, Gen, POV First Person, Parseltongue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vogue91/pseuds/vogue91
Summary: I’ve always asked if her perceptions are owed to more developed senses, typical of the animal, or whether she feels so bound to me that she can catch my every movement.





	Poison

**Author's Note:**

> I admit it, perhaps I’ve humanized Nagini a bit too much, but after all Rowling herself helps with this interpretation, with how clearly Harry can hear snakes speaking. And also, I’ve imagined that the complexity of speaking between Nagini and Voldemort is helped by the bond they share. So... this is it. Enjoy, I hope!

Poison, poison, poison, poison. _Poison._

That’s what’s running through my veins, alongside Potter’s blood. Poison.

There’s nothing worth the waste of a second look around me, no one deserving words, deserving praise or mere consideration.

There’s just a sharp darkness, drowning it too in my venom, as if I was a dark hole capable of attracting anything. As the worst of Dementors, sucking any joy these foolish human beings can still hope to know.

I’m alone in a room in Malfoy Manor. I try to think, but my mind is invaded by all the thoughts, the fearful whispers, the chats of those idiots who thinks I trust them.

I trust no one except myself. And _her._

I get closer, cautious. With time, I’ve learnt to respect my Nagini. Ever since I was a child, and I had started understanding that those voices only I could hear were coming from snakes, I have felt special. But I couldn’t have imagined how much this quality would’ve proven useful, during the years.

 _I see you pensive, my Lord._ she told me, aware of my getting closer even though she wasn’t looking I’ve always asked if her perceptions are owed to more developed senses, typical of the animal, or whether she feels so bound to me that she can catch my every movement.

“Of course I am, Nagini. I keep seeing my strength growing day by day, my allies joining me again. And yet, I can still feel something missing.” the snake hisses, in what I read as a sardonic laugh.

_Because you are a perfectionist. But I thought that in time you had learnt to be content with what you have. You’re feared, respected. Everybody knows how this war is going to end. What’s your concern?_

I get closer, clenching my fists. She doesn’t withdraw, as any Death Eater would have.

But she’s different, I now. Everybody fears me, she’s right. Not her. She’s not scared of me, for she thinks I need her more than she does me.

“Being content, Nagini, is not at all in my plans.” I hit the desk next to me, taking a piece of parchment and crushing it. “I want all who have dared defy me to be crushed, to suffer the tortures of the damned. To regret to have underestimated me.” I hiss, hoping to get the concept through to her.

_What if you were to regret having underestimated them, Master?_

I barely manage not to jinx her. I know she’s the only one I have to show a little restraint with, as if she was an hysterical wife, and not just an animal.

And a few times I’ve wondered if I can really call her that.

Can it really be considered an animal someone I talk to, whom I confide in, the only one being a part of what goes through my troubled mind?

“I don’t underestimate them, Nagini.” I tell her, after having gained back, at least in part, my self-control. I see her moving her head, as if shaking it. It still amazes me how _human_ some of her gestures are.

And more human in thoughts.

_And what about Potter, my Lord? He doesn’t frighten you at all?_

I clench my teeth. Merlin knows how much she’d like to see me shiver, but she knows it’s not going to happen, that I don’t fear the Chosen One, no matter what doubts she tries to plant in my mind. Doubts that have no reason to exist, Nagini, my darling.

I brush her head with my fingers, without answering.

She’s just a snake, one among many. Or at least that’s what I’d like to convince myself of. But I know it’s not like that, and she does as well. There’s a bond almost obsessive between us, a bond capable of terrorizing all those who see it.

I remember perfectly when they told me that being a Parselmouth was a dark wizard’s trait. Of wizards devoted to shadow, to darkness.

Wizards devoted to supreme power, how I see it. And that new had fascinated me, when they thought I should’ve been scared. I already knew, then, what my destiny was going to be, and I’ve fought for my plans to go the way they were supposed to.

And know she and I are witness to the fulfilment of those desires, of that project that many would’ve called insane, and that was now being forged under my fingers. I look at the snake, smiling.

“You know, Nagini, I think it’s lucky that you’re not human. You would’ve created much more problems. Men are so shockingly foolish... so bounded to that silliness they call ‘love’” I tell her all of a sudden, sharing yet another thought; for she knows everything about me, and there’s no reason for it to be otherwise.

 _You know I don’t dislike being a snake. Those foolish humans you speak of, are afraid of my race. After all, there’s no worse venom than a snake’s._ she hisses. I laugh, mocking.

“Perhaps you’re right, my friend. But it’s also true that there’s no worse rage than a foe’s.” I point out, opinionated and conceited, as she’s grown accustomed to see me.

_Then I can’t imagine how great your rage is, my Lord, if considered all the foes you’re gathered through the years._

I burst out laughing, all of a sudden, a strange laugh not different from a sneer. I admit I’ve never been particularly prone to laugh, and I’m shocked anytime it happens.

She’s the only one still able to make me laugh.

“It’s not that I have too many enemies. It’s just that I’ve never had a particular interest in making friends. Just allies.” I say.

_And what’s my role, Master?_

I don’t know whether her question betrays a hint of uncertainty, but I shake my head at the thought. I tend to ascribe to her many qualities which can’t belong to a snake.

“You’re my animal. You belong to me.” I lie, aware that I can’t show too many cracks in the wall, not even to her.

 _Perhaps you forget that a part of you belongs with me._ she replies, daring. I go toward her, fast, and I tighten my hand around her. It doesn’t last more than a second, then I let her go and I scream, inhumanly.

“Nagini, please, don’t remind me of what I was forced to do.” I hiss, between irritation and desperation.

_Then you shall not say I’m you animal and nothing else. I’m the reason why you are here, today._

“You dare holding it against me?” I spit the words, as if they’re bitter, but pronouncing them I feel like the snake has taken away from me, in between her coil, a piece of my authority.

_No. I’m proud of the role I’ve played, and far more of the one I have now. I’m glad you’ve considered me as much as to... give to me a piece of your soul. I just wish you’d recognize I’ve got a relevance of my own._

I smile, nervous, and I brush her again, but I don’t answer.

I feel caged by the look of the animal, by the depth of those eyes, which no one is able to see, but that’s there, crystal clear in front of me.

I have to admit that there’s more poison in her than there is in me. There’s poison in her for she’s a snake, and for she’s got a piece of me inside.

She’s one of the most beautiful and most lethal beings I’ve ever seen. She had me wondering too many times why should I need anyone else beside her.

She’s a weapon, she’s the keeper of what little trust I have left.

But she must know I’ll never call her a friend. There’s no place for that in the rise for triumph, for power, for _dominance._

“Goodnight, Nagini.” I say, seeing disappointed that on her triangular face there’s still that mocking look.

 _Goodnight, my Lord._ she slithers away, catching the farewell in my voice. She goes, slowly, and I smile. Anyone else would’ve ran, careful not to bother me any longer, fearing my irritability. She always have to stand out, aware of being different for other things than looks or race.

Nagini’s the one I owe my life two, she knows and she pretends to ignore it. And I don’t lose myself in elucubrations as to why she does, for she’s the only one which I can’t be allowed to mistrust.

I know we’re bound by something deep, other than her venom in me, other than my soul in her.

We’re bound by evil. We’re bound by pure instinct. We’re bound by being different in our own race.

That’s what we are. We’re a whole other race. The race that is going to bend this insensate Magical World.

Let’s begin the reign of poison.  


End file.
